Everything: New App Helps Find Files Fast

Everything is a lightweight search utility that indexes and updates quickly and in real-time. It could be the answer to your desktop search woes.

Desktop search utilities tend to be bloated with features that usually have nothing to do with desktop search. Those features can be useful if you use them, but if you just want a simple file and folder searching tool that's more powerful than Windows' built-in search tool, you might have a hard time finding a utility that will do the job without slowing down your system. Everything is a lightweight search utility that indexes and updates quickly and in real-time. It could be the answer to your desktop-search woes.

Most desktop search tools like Google Desktop, Yahoo!'s X1 Desktop Search, and Microsoft's Windows Search, have a lengthy indexing process that has to take place before you can begin using them. The indexing process usually takes hours, if not days. Also, along with search features, most desktop search packages install a number of additional tools like widgets, e-mail notifiers, and RSS feed readers that may not be needed.

Locate32 is another lightweight desktop search app that removes the lengthy indexing process and only installs the features you need. The Everything app takes the process a step forward by slimming down the interface even more and making the program even more lightweight. Everything supports NTFS volumes in Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista, and is free to download and use. Locate32 supports FAT32, more versions of Windows and is open-source, but Everything is a little lighter and faster (only 293 kB).

By default, Everything displays every file and folder on your system. When you search for a file or folder, it's almost the opposite of what you might expect--when you use a search tool, you enter a search term and the tool looks around your system for it.

With Everything, you start with all files on your system, and your search term acts as a filter. It screens out files and folders that don't match until you find what you're looking for. Everything also updates its database in real-time, so as you delete, rename, or move files around, the app keeps track of your actions. Additionally, if you're familiar with regular expressions and Boolean operators, searching with Everything is much easier.

Even though the Everything app is tiny, it does have to run in the background at all times to stay on top of changes. Even though it's constantly running in the background, the app doesn't use much in the way of system resources. At the same time, Everything is lacking in some of the features people have come to expect from more feature-rich search tools, like the ability to search inside of files or e-mails. Everything can definitely help you find a lost file on your system, but it won't be able to track down an important e-mail for you.